EPL Match Day 23: Arsenal v West Ham United; Match Preview
I remember reading an article on being a Boston Sports fan and how it was similar to going through “battered wife syndrome.” You would get beaten down and then get right back up. You get just enough from someone to keep you warm and fuzzy only to have your heart ripped out again. beaten down. It is how I feel about supporting this current incarnation of Arsenal.
We’ve discussed before that I try to approach each match as a new experience, a new view of the club – ever optimistic that we’ve turned a corner and today is the day we move forward. Some days the lofty expectations are met, others, well like the battered-wife syndrome, you get knocked down. Now some of you would probably argue that I am blindly following my team. Maybe. But it is how I gauge being a supporter rather than being a casual fan. If you can get up every day after times of excrutiating and pain and support your team anew each time, then you are a supporter.
But to my point – that is why today – at the Boleyn Ground in London, I am optimistic at Arsenal gaining ground on league leaders Manchester United. The foe today is London is rival West Ham United. They are simply put a team in turmoil. The worst move they made was firing Gianfranco Zola at the end of last season. Zola made West Ham fighters and I felt they were capable under his direction of nipping points from teams. They were handfulls for us under his care. Now with Avram Grant leading, not so much. As a matter of fact, this match could be Grant’s last in charge as the press are already reporting that after the match Grant will be replaced by Martin O’Neill.
As for their team itself, they only boast one player in the squad who has scored against Arsenal, Carlton Cole. They are on a run of good form of late winning 4 of their last 6 matches and they look like (if Arsenal can beat Ipswich on the return leg) the potential opponent for the Carling Cup final. Finally, Wayne Bridge (he of John Terry fame) makes his debut for the Hammers after securing a loan move from Manchester City.
For the Gunners we are set to redelpoy what I have classified our “A” team. This is the squad that handled both Chelsea and Birmingham and I think represents our best squad and best hopes. The only exception is at right back where Emmanuel Eboue gets one more run out in place of the suspended Bacary Sagna.
Eboue is not someone I really want in this positon and if I were advising Wenger, I would say that we need a RB sub as much as we need a CB. Frankly Eboue has been abysmal all season and his best role has been cheerleader-in-chief. He can’t defend, his passes are off, and the piercing runs he was using to effect last season are gone. We have a triple threat player and unfortunately not in a good way. That means extra duty for Johann Djourou cleaning up after Eboue. Which in essence makes a little nervous.
Djourou has been stellar since his return. He has stablized the back four and they currently are in the top 5 defences in the league and that only improves on the road. His partnership with Laurent Koscielny has blossomed as well. Koscielny is playing to his strength of reading the play and focusing on the ground battles while leaving the aerial battles to Djourou. The support for each other has been solid and it has shown – in the lowest amount of shots allowed and starting to lower the goals against average of the team as well.
With the likes of Nasri and Van Persie back in the lineup, creativity is restored and our attacking options are substantial. Fabregas loves this group, with he and Nasri building an intuitive partnership that is starting to closely resemble Barcelona’s Xavi and Iniestas. No, they are not there yet, but they are getting there. Time will and playing together will only tell. And If Van Persie’s shot starts hitting the target he too will offer Fabregas yet another substantial target to give the ball to and that will be necessary going forward.
I am hoping that the Gunners adopt a wounded animal mentality and really go for the juggular against West Ham. I don’t expect today’s squad to be complacent. The grouping on the pitch gets it and comes out and plays unlike the grouping that features, Bendtner, Arshavin, and Denilson at its core. Our “B” for whatever reason, lack of talent, lack of time together, lack of playing or whatever, don’t show the same ability to creatively open up a team. You’d argue that the “a” team doesn’t either after failing to score against City. True, except for the fact that the Gunners solved the City puzzle only to have the wordwork wind up being the best keeper in the match. This group will open up a defending team. The have the experience, patience and skill to do so.
The biggest news on the pitch today for the Gunners will be the Szczesny gets another EPL start with Fabianksi still having shoulder issues. The younger pole has shown – so far – he is the real deal. He is confident in his play. He commits to every thing he does and plays so big. Its uncanny for a plyer that young to have the wherewithal to play like he does. I am glad the Gunners retained him. It is surely one of the positives with the squad. Its clear he has a bright future with the Gunners and we may be witnessing its start right now. Let’s hope he keeps grabbing the prize and going for it.
How the Match Should Play Out:
I think we should expect Arsenal to come out flying especially after two very lacklustre performances by the “b” team. Look for them to test and see how West Ham are planning to set up. If it is a parked bus then the Gunners need to score early to force them to play open football. Which is what I think they will try. The urgency we saw inthe last few minutes of the Ipswich match will be on display early in this one as the Gunners look to put West Ham and Avram Grant out of their misery.
Players to Watch:
Arsenal: Theo Walcott. Theo gets his 100th appearance for the Gunners today if he starts. He has really come into his own this season and with the exception of the odd weak dribbler he seems to have shown more of the promise we all thought he would display when he came over from Southampton.
West Ham: Robert Green. Well not to be upstaged by Walcott, Green will be making his 200th EPL appearance today. He was responsible for the United States winning their WC group. Let’s hope he’s responsible for Arsenal moving closer to United.
Probable Starting XI:
Injuries and Suspensions:
Arsenal: Sgana (suspended – 1) Squillaci (thigh) Fabianski (shoulder) Diaby (thigh) Almunia (ankle) Frimpong (knee), Vermaelen (Achilles)
West Ham: Obinna (suspended – 3) Collison ( knee) Edgar (knee) Kurucz (knee) Da Costa (ankle) Dyer (thigh) Hitzlsperger (thigh) Ilunga (muscle problem) McCarthy (calf)
Leading Scorers:
Arsenal: Nasri13 (9 league) Chamakh 10 (7 league) Walcott 9 (6 league)
West Ham: Piquionne: 7 (5 league) Parker: 6 (4 league)
Last Meeting: (EPL)
Arsenal: 1 (Song ’88)
West Ham: 0
Last 5:
Arsenal: LWDWD
West Ham: DWDWL
Goals For:
Arsenal: 1.8 (away)
West Ham: 1.3 (home)
Goals Against:
Arsenal: 1 (away)
West Ham: 1.5 (home)
Goal Difference:
Arsenal: 20
West Ham: -16
Match Officials:
Referee: Andre Marriner
Assistant referees: Simon Beck & Andy Newbold
Fourth official: Lee Probert
Broadcast Information:
US: FSC 1230 PM EST
UK: ESPN UK 1730 GMT
Feeds:
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www.iraqgoals.net
www.jason.tv
www.myp2p.com
GAMEDAY CHAT: It’s Open!!!!!!
www.youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 2
West Ham United: 0
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RVP … when fit and healthy… is a game changer.
He is by far, our BEST striker.
He had a very good game.
To me, both teams lacked any intensity at all.
They might as well have been kicking the ball around Blackheath Common…
How can West Ham be in a survival fight and play as if they don’t care… SHOCKING.
We weren’t much more into it, and we should have scored about 6 goals… but we are forever into the pass the ball into the net mode.
3-0 over West Ham.
Sorry. Nothing to really get overly excited about.
One more nice win to set us at ease and revive expectations. Unfortunately, I can never predict which AFC will show up for a game.
Think I’ll take the Stagg approach and distance myself emotionally until this squad proves they can win something.
@CaribKid, You guys are funny….”Emotional Distance”…..What’s the saying: Every man dies, but does every man live?”
Or something like that….
Embrace the nightmare roller coaster ride that supporting Arsenal entails….
@CaribKid,
“Think I’ll take the Stagg approach and distance myself emotionally until this squad proves they can win something.”
Myself, as well. The last three matches we’ve played three Championship (-Level) sides. 1-1-1.
Meh.
We won and comfortably.
So nice to see Van Persie in the thick of things and rediscovering his touch. When fit, he is exactly the kind of quick-witted pivot that Wengerball needs to open up defences.
Admittedly, West Ham were playing like they were on Zoloft. But still, neither Bendtner or Chamakh offer that speed of angled return ball to make our build-ups effective.
Theo did enough. Nasri and Cesc ran the show. Eboue is a liability at the back waiting to happen. Come back, Sagna!
Keeper was solid. Djourou had a bit of shocker — underhit back pass etc.
Overall, a nice easy win to get us back on track.
We won, we won….
For a moment at least, the sky has ceased it’s falling….
Onto Leeds….
Hopefully, we come roaring back from the Ipswich debacle.
Never can tell anymore with Wenger’s teams.
Key ingredient is urgency. If we have that, then everything else can click into place.
If not, we pass ourselves senseless then let ourselves get picked off with a route A counterattack. How familiar is that storyline?
The shocking, dispiriting thing is the total lack of zest in our defeats this season. These were not near misses, or the result of some howling injustice. We were simply apathetic.
Here’s hoping Nasri and Wilshre are back to add some bite to Cesc in midfield,
I think Cesc gets down when he’s outnumbered by Wenger’s neverending journeymen works-in-progress.
i’m not too concerned with arsenal failing to win over the last week. arsenal’s problems are simple. you’ve got to have a playmaker in that front three. playing arshavin, theo, or bendtner on one flank means you need a playmaker on the other. while arshavin is okay, neither of those guys are good at creating chances against a team that parks the bus. playing van persie in the front three gives arsenal a playmaker up there. there’s no mystery to why we struggled to score in the past two games.
a fair argument would be that we couldn’t score against man city. my only counter argument to that is man city have paid a lot of money for a decent defense and have a very good keeper. also, man city came out that day with their primary intent being to stopping arsenal from scoring. we did, at least, create a few chances against city. that was down to us having playmakers on the pitch. we created little to nothing against leeds and ipswich.
wenger’s got to lose what seems to be a cut and paste mentality with our attacking players. they all have certain qualities and wenger needs to respect what they can and can’t do well and put out a combination that has a good chance at winning the game.
with samir and rvp coming back into the team and cesc likely to start, we’ve got plenty of playmakers and should give west ham a proper beating today.
@joshuad, “wenger’s got to lose what seems to be a cut and paste mentality with our attacking players”
That’s basically what I’m trying to say–and a second element is that many of our intelligent (“sensitive”) boys are playing in an inhibited way, trying to take the percentage pass (or shot) and not trusting their instincts. Against the bus parking teams, they’ve got to take advantage of the overly aggressive play of the defenders, not decide early and snap at their shots.
New comments back up top….Hmmm…..
@highburyterracesteve,
i don’t think anyone’s playing inhibited. we’ve simply got players that can create better than others. if wenger puts out a side with only one good playmaker, we’re going to struggle to create chances.
OK, no one will chat with me on the GDC so I’ll chime in about the troubles I see in our attack….
First off, we’ve got major problems in that our main MF creator and Captain wants to be at a different club, but putting that aside (and that this likely inhibits a lot of desire to form intuitive partnerships, etc…), you’ve got several midfielders (Wilshere, Rosicky, Denilson, Diaby–if he ever plays again) who CLEARLY get antsy the closer they get to the box—thus the desire to pass the responsibility on.
An even bigger problem, however, is that we’re playing a lone striker formation AND the preferred occupant of that position (RVP) is not a sizeable target and is given the leeway to move all over the pitch. This can work, if center backs are dragged out of position by wide ranging movement, but most teams just sit tight and play two lines of 4. Additionally, RVP’s would be subs, Chamakh and Bendtner, though better targets for crosses, aren’t so good taking on defenders one on one, nor turning with the ball if they come back further to get it. In other words, we’re building a system around a guy who’s always injured and his subs are not fit to slot in as his backup. When they’re in we should play differently, but we don’t. Or we did, when RVP was out long term, but now we don’t want to revert, or something….
A corollary of playing in this manner is that other guys who would perhaps be more effective centrally are shunted to the wings (Walcott, Nasri, Arshavin). If RVP is running about they can fill his voided spaces, but always with an (inhibiting?) eye to being available in their assigned spots. With no natural wingers to interplay with overlapping fullbacks (whose talent going forward is questionable to begin with) we don’t have much, if anything, in terms of traditional (crossing) wide-play.
So pass, pass, pass it is, with inhibited, less than fully committed attackers. Sometimes the quality prevails and other times (Chelsea match) a little defensive pressure from these boys results in mistakes, but against the parked teams I see LARGE quantities of futility….
IMO, something’s gotta change….
@highburyterracesteve, I will try GDC. No promises.
Denilson and Rosicky – don’t see as antsy near the goal. Rosicky, just not seeing regular playing time to find his shooting touch.
Jack, yes to antsy; at the moment – next year he’ll be a different player. Look at the progress of Ramsey last season.
Theo is not a thinking player. Allow him to play central and float in the space between both CB’s. Play the ball for him to run onto – period.
Stick vP on the right wing, where he can inter play with Sagna OR take the ball inside and leverage the angle for shooting. Ditto for Nasri on the left….
By replacing Arshavin and Theo on the wings – we now have players who can hold possession, work 1-2’s, allow wing backs to overlap……
Two early shots blocked by Kolarov are all that prevent Wolves from leading at Man City by 3 goals after 20 mins! Instead only 1-nil….
@highburyterracesteve, Whoa, desperate for some chat, I thought I’d put a comment at the top, only to find it at the Bottom….
I like it, Thanks DAG!
@ Mazza
Your analysis of our midfield today v. 07/08, on the money. How can our manager be so blind?
@ Fred
Read your reply, we are on the same page…..but I’ll respond after the WH match.
DAG – enjoyed your opening analogy. If the players you’ve listed are your ‘a’ tea, then as Arsenal fans we can expect years of repeated abuse.
If your expecting continuity, we need players that can maintain consistent performances. In midfield and attack we’re only getting it from Song and Nasri. vP – nine matches in and still a fitness issue & little threat to score? Cesc still not near last seasons play; Theo – anything but consistent. Wilshere, a 19 yr old with lots of potential but still not the maturity of play that is critical in our midfield that Arsenal needs NOW.
I’m hoping to see all our player give a good performance. Hoping is the operative word.
no injuries & 3 points……
@Arsession,
Remember RvP took 6 games at the start of last season to get firing. It also took him 4 games to look any good this start of the season. RvP needs time and the shots he took on goal versus City were solid.
Cesc is going to get there. Patience.
Theo I agree with but I believe he is much improved over last season.
Surprised you left Djourou, Sagna, and Fabianski off your list of consistents. Djourou has been absolutely solid since returning. Sagna, is the best right back in the league and while Fabianski still does not make me jump for joy – he has been a makred improvement drastically marked – over Almunia.
@DaAdminGooner, Optimistically, I can see vP and Cesc regaining their standard of play. Theo has exceeded my expectations to date, but its feast or famine for his involvement and he cannot link our play so its a missing dimension.
My reference was only for midfield and attack. I cannot find fault with our performances in defense and keeper (overall), for me its execution in attack that is the major issue.
Agree with your comments about the defenders & keeper. DJ has become integral to the team as Song evolved last season.
@Arsession,
Oh and as for Wilshere – I know he’s a favourite whipping post of yours – but I am sorry 9 times out of 10 he shows more poise and maturity than players who have played in that role longer than he.
@DaAdminGooner, If debate reflected more patience, then I probably would not have pointed the finger at Jack…..but to allow other posters to give him the free pass and then criticize other Arsenal players for equal or lesser sins – its only my attempt to keep the posting somewhat balanced.
@Arsession, Just about as negative as I’ve seen from Mr. Session….These players you mention truly do need to step up and start looking like a cohesive unit…..
Good preview DAG, and I like what you say about being a supporter….
Frankly, we’ve put our backs to the wall. We need to find our game and get results. Nothing less than 4 consecutive victories (the last one being by two clear goals) will suffice. Otherwise, you can write off 3 trophies….And then we take on Barca for the 4th….LOL, to keep from crying, as I like to say.
As for the match itself… If the Grant out rumors are true, West Ham should not be setting out to merely defend as nothing but a famous victory will suffice. Also, if Scott Parker isn’t playing I can’t see them trying to create much through the middle of the park. Long Balls to the wings and crosses back in and potshots from all over. In truth it’d be pretty sad if we can’t stop that sort of approach and make them pay–to the tune of several goals.
Time to turn this ship around….(or something)….
I’m gonna watch the early matches and sit in the GDC if anyone cares to join me….(Where’s my old pal, Nipuna, when I need him?…..)
@highburyterracesteve,
“Just about as negative as I’ve seen from Mr. Session” I thought I was assuming the role of a battered partner? LOL
I agree with your attention to the significance of the next 4 matches – actually I think our manager has started taking his blood pressure medicine.
@Arsession, Sesh, DAG, You guys should join me on the GDC so that the usual suspects aren’t subject to the doubts and worries of the the Hippie Optimists….
Actually, there’s been some interesting stuff in the wake of the teams latest ebb…. If we can turn it around, it will be all false as these matches, of course, should be easily won, etc., etc…blah, blah, blah…..
Crazy stuff on the telly….Stoke-Bolton shown, Chelsea-Blackburn not….And in the other match, Dzeko shows his stuff with an early dive just outside the box…..
C’mon….we can argue back and forth whether or not Wilshere or Denilson should anchor our MF (insert rolly eyes emoticon)……
@highburyterracesteve, I’ll be first to admit I can’t multi-task – watch and type. What is GDC?
I’m watching Chelsea/Blackburn on ESPN3 now 0-0 in 28th min; taping ManCity.
re: Denilson and Wilshere
Neither are DM’s.
@Arsession, Game Day Chat, dude…I’ve seen you in there before….Both TV matches are over, however, Man City 4-2 over Wolves, Stoke 2-nil over Bolton….